Terry the Baddie
Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Fri 1 Apr 2016 22:47
Terry, the Saltwater
Baddie
Our final exhibit
at the Alice Springs Reptile Centre. The water was murky, the glass was salt
stained but we could still feel the menace of Terry,
‘a true Territorian’ was wild caught from Darwin Harbour in April 2002 and
transported to Alice Springs on a car transporter. Terry is a male and when
captured was about ten years old, his weight approximately two hundred
kilograms, he is 3.3 point three metres long and equipped with jaws able to
deliver three tonnes of crushing power. Interestingly, despite the strong muscles to close the
jaw, crocodiles have extremely small and weak muscles to open the jaw, it still
takes several times around with duct tape to keep their mouth safely snapped
shut.
A ‘salty’ in
the wild, their distribution and a 1948 stamp.
This dragonfly had no idea what he was hovering next
to........
Terry was named by Bianca, a
ten year old girl who won a naming competition held to find a suitable name for
him. Terry, Bianca said, was short for “Territorian” and the Reptile Centre
thought that was great.
Terry went on display in July 2002
after an initial settling in period. He is classified as a rogue crocodile and
therefore extremely dangerous and as the centre is unable to add further
crocodiles to the facility he is destined to remain a bachelor. Most crocs
caught in Darwin Harbour are usually sent to Top End Crocodile
farms.
The glass between us and Terry in the downstairs viewing gallery is
reinforced forty millimetres thick weighing over five hundred kilograms.
Amazing to stand, in geographic terms, so close to this ancient
looking creature, not a single movement except for the tiny ‘waggle’ under his
throat and stare at his unique dentistry.
Terry behaves like any wild
crocodile during the day, either resting silent underwater or basking in the
sun. Crocodiles are mainly nocturnal and take most of their food at night and
during the wet season from October through to April however, they will feed all
year round if circumstances permit. Crocodiles
have a varied diet consisting of fish, turtles, birds, small mammals and even
large prey including horses, buffalo and the odd human......... and catch most
of their prey at the waters edge. There are around twenty to thirty attacks each
year on humans resulting in one or two deaths. Most ‘problem’ crocodiles are
male.
Terry’s front left foot,
any self respecting dinosaur would be proud to call its
own.....
Incredible to think
these apparently sedentary, heavy creatures can, in a split second, leap at speed. Terry’s eyes are cat-like being adapted for
night vision. His sense of hearing, especially in the lower spectrum is
exceptional. A large crocodile can stay underwater for up to three hours; Terry
is able to stay under for an hour but usually surfaces to take a breath every
fifteen to twenty five minutes, whilst under water the crocodile closes its
nostrils and a flap of tissue seals the back of the mouth to prevent water from
entering the lungs.
Terry’s pond contains
diluted saltwater maintained at twenty three degrees Centigrade during winter
and thirty degrees during summer (just like Darling Harbour). The water is
heated by a computer controlled solar hot water system with extra heating
supplied by an on-demand ORIGIN gas powered heating unit supplying additional
heat during cold winter nights.
The Australian
saltwater crocodile, Crocodylus prosus inhabit the tropical northern
areas along the coastline of Australia. Large specimens may reach over six
metres and weigh over a tonne, however, most male crocodiles have an average
length of four metres and may live for as long as a hundred years. The
picture is of Lolong, the biggest ever caught, 6.17
metres long, weighing 1075 kilograms.
We left Terry with no real wish to meet one in the
wild......
ALL IN ALL AMAZING POWER UP
CLOSE OR FOR THAT MATTER, AT A DISTANCE.......
PREHISTORIC MONSTER WITH
ATTITUDE |